


What if... Scott

by TenjounoTora



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen, Scott Tracy missing, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24880255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenjounoTora/pseuds/TenjounoTora
Summary: What if Scott was on the Zero-X?  Just immediately after of the accident.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

From the moment he had thought up the idea of International Rescue he knew he was going to make everything they did as safe as possible. From the moment he found that his sons wanted to help, he knew he needed to make everything more than just safe. 

He knew he was putting his sons in danger, but he was going to make god damn sure that nothing would happen to them.

However, it still hadn’t been enough. 

"I want footage from every damn camera that was up there!" Jeff pounded his fist on his desk, his face blotched red with anger and grief. "I want to know where ever bit of that ship landed, and I want every available GDF soldier collecting it and searching for my son!" 

"Colonel Tracy, I understand—" The hologram in the middle of the room pressed their lips together and sighed a little. 

"You understand nothing!" His fist slammed down on the desk again. "There is no way my son is dead. You hear me? So get your men out there and start looking!" 

"Colonel Tracy—" 

"Are you not listening to me!?" 

"Jeff!" Captain Casey finally steadied her shoulders and stared her old commander down. 

There was silence in the room as the echo of his name bounced off the walls. Jeff gritted his teeth and stared wide eyed at his close friend. 

"I have given you the footage that the GDF has allowed me to release. My men are out there gathering what splashed down in the oceans but it is not much. The explosion obliterated almost everything there was. We are on the look out for The Hood’s escape capsule, but it disappeared off the radar when the explosion happened." She was silent for a moment, pain reflected on her face. "I’m sorry, but Scott is gone." 

"Dad?" 

Jeff turned to find his second eldest standing just inside the lounge. His brows were pinched and he glanced between himself and Captain Casey.

"What’s going on? Is Scott back from the mission yet?" 

"I’ve told you what I can, Jeff. I’m sorry." Casey turned and nodded at Virgil before disappearing. 

"Dad, what’s going on? What was she talking about." 

Jeff didn’t say anything but buried his face in his hands. 

How was he supposed to tell his son that his brother was dead? Blown up in the sky. Not only him, but his other brothers are well, and their grandmother, and—

"Dad!" Virgil was next to him now, a hand on his shoulder. "What is going on? Where is Scott?" 

Jeff forced in a deep breath and wiped at his eyes. "The mission, he wasn’t able to stop The Hood—" He said the name like it was some joke, a clowns name. "He left Scott in the cockpit and he wasn’t able to stop the engines." 

"What engines?" 

Jeff took another deep breath. "The Zero-X." 

"The Zero—wasn’t that a prototype?" 

Jeff nodded unable to talk. 

"Dad—" Virgil’s voice started to catch in his own throat. "Is Scott—" He too seemed to be unable to say the word. 

"He took the ship into the atmosphere, to limit the damage, but there wasn’t—there wasn’t any time for him to escape." Jeff couldn’t stop the sob that escaped, but he wasn’t going to cry in front of his son. He took in a few deep breaths and wiped at his face again before turning to face him. 

Virgil was frozen, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open. "No. Not Scott. He’s—He’s too quick." 

"I want to believe that too, but Casey." Jeff waved his arm at where the young captain once stood. 

Virgil’s jaw was trembling as he nodded. "We need to tell the others." He took in a deep breath and steeled himself. "They need to know." 

Jeff nodded and hit a button on his desk and cleared his throat. "I need everyone in the lounge, now." 

John’s hologram was the first to appear. He, of course, already knew. His face was as red as his hair, and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked at his older brother and nodded, not trusting himself to say anything, but also not knowing what to say. 

"John, come on down. Gordon and Alan are down by the huts, it’ll take them some time to get back up here." Virgil glanced at his father who had yet to acknowledge John’s presence. 

John nodded. "I’m on my way." His hologram disappeared and there was nothing but silence for a long while. 

Eventually they could hear Gordon and Alan as they approached the pool. They were play fighting about something, laughing and yelling. They were so happy Virgil’s heart ached with what they were about to learn. 

They ran up the steps but stopped when they saw their father and brother. 

"Where’s Scott?" Alan was quick to notice that their eldest was missing and looked to Virgil for an answer. 

"Sit. Dad has—he has something to tell you." Virgil took in a deep breath and seemed to lean on the desk for support. 

Alan and Gordon looked at each other, worry already etched on their faced. They had just sat down when John walked into the room, still in his uniform. 

He didn’t look any better in person, in fact Virgil thought he looked worse. 

Alan jumped to his feet and was at his brother’s side in an instant. "John? What’s wrong?" 

John took Alan’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug. 

Alan was shocked at first, John wasn’t normally the brother he’d go to for hugs, but he slowly wrapped his arms around him and squeezed tight.

"What is going on?" Gordon couldn’t stand it anymore. Everyone looked like they were about to cry but no one had given them the reason. 

Their father finally moved and took in a deep breath. "Scott went out on a mission. One I should have gone on, but you know your brother, he insisted."

"Where is Scott?" Gordon was not playing nice anymore. He had his hands in fists at his sides staring his father down. 

"He wasn’t able to bring the engines back into control—he didn’t—" 

"Are you saying what I think you’re saying? That-that can’t be. No! It’s not true!" Gordon stormed from the room and disappeared. 

Alan was still holding onto John, but his arms had tightened around his brother and he was crying into him. 

"We’ll get The Hood or whatever he’s called." Virgil had curled his own hands into fists, but one of his father’s hands reached over and grabbed one in his own.

"No, son. Our job is not revenge." 

"But if he hadn’t—" 

"The GDF will look for him." Jeff swallowed the lump in his throat before turning to John and Alan. "We have our own things to take care of. John, I want you to use Thunderbird 5 and scan whatever you can scan. Even if it just means finding—you know what." 

John nodded and started to walk away but Alan’s arms tightened around him. "Allie—" 

"No, don’t go. Please." 

"Can’t you do it from down here John? I don’t think any of us should be left alone with our own thoughts at the moment." Virgil was looking at his father who nodded. 

"I agree. Virgil, could you go see about Gordon? I need to find Kyrano and Kayo, and I need to call your grandmother as well." 

Virgil nodded and made his way out of the lounge. 

"Come on Allie. Let’s go down to one of Brains’ labs and start those scans." John looked up at his father. "Brains does know, right?" 

"Yes. He’s going over the footage Casey gave me with a fine toothed comb." 

John nodded and led the youngest out of the lounge. 

Jeff took the moment and cried. 

How could he have been so stupid? How could he have allowed his sons to do such dangerous work? Though he already knew the answer. Because his sons—especially Scott—were just like him. They would not have allowed him to hire anyone else to do this job, would have been mad at him at the very idea. 

Jeff knew that if Scott had not become the pilot of Thunderbird 1, he would have entered the Air-Force or even the GDF and that was just as dangerous. At least with IR Jeff would have had a hand in making sure he was safe—or so he thought. 

It took him a few minutes to calm down. He’d have plenty of time later to think, right then he needed to call their grandmother and let her know what had happened. So he reached forward and touched a button on the desk. 

Virgil followed the direction Gordon had taken out of the lounge. He hadn’t gone toward the pool, that was much too close, and he hadn’t ever been one to lock himself in his room—that was John. So Virgil made his way down to the hanger. 

He found his brother underneath Thunderbird 4. They had her in her module doing some maintenance that morning and Virgil was glad of it. Had the bird been in her tank it would have been a bit harder to get to Gordon to talk to him. 

"Hey." Virgil nudged the foot sticking out from under the yellow sub. 

"Go away." 

"You know I’m not. What are you doing?" 

"I’m putting her back together and I’m going to go and find Scott. There’s no way a stupid explosion would—" There was a crack in his voice. 

"We need to manufacture some parts that Brains still needs to design. You’re not going anywhere at the moment." 

"Then what is Brains doing?" Gordon pushed himself out from under the sub and stared up at Virgil. 

"He’s analyzing the video." Virgil crouched down next to Gordon. "There’s nothing we can do. Even if you were to get her back together I’m pretty sure the GDF haven’t given us permission to go wandering in the splashdown zone. I’m pretty sure that’s what Dad was yelling at Captain Casey for when I walked in." 

"That’s stupid! We have better scanning equipment than they do!" Gordon clambered to his feet. "And what about his transponder! They don’t even know the frequency!" 

"John and Alan are setting up scans via Five. Right now that’s all we can do." 

Gordon threw the wrench he had in his hand at the green wall. "It’s not fair! First Mom and now Scott! What have we done to deserve this?!" 

Virgil stood wanting to pull his brother into a hug and comfort him, but he knew that’s not what Gordon needed at the moment. So he stood there quietly as he watched Gordon yell and throw whatever he could get his hands on. Only then, when he had let out all the steam and anger in him did Virgil walk over and pull him into his arms. 

Gordon collapsed into is brother and cried. 

International Rescue had been shut down. They would not go on any rescues for almost a year later, and even then some questioned if that had been wise. 

As soon as the GDF had called the splashdown site cleared, Thunderbirds 2 and 4 made their way there and started their own search. 

They searched for two months for any sign of their lost brother, but to no avail. There was nothing left.

Virgil seemed to struggle a little picking up the weight his brother had once bore. He knew how to be a big brother, and a leader, but being the eldest was something different. He no longer had his best friend to look to for advice or confirmation and his brother’s were all his responsibility instead of a shared task they took on together. 

Virgil had also stopped painting and playing music. Every time he tried, the only thing that came to his mind was his brother, so he just avoided it altogether. 

John hid in Brains lab for a week after the accident and then he returned to Five and hid there. He poured himself into his work, both school and searching for their brother. Even after Thunderbird 2 had not left the hanger for a month, John still searched. 

Their father would go up to Five to check on him from time to time, but no one knew what else to do with him. 

Gordon was beside himself. He couldn’t sit still or else he’d think too hard about it all. He’d be in the gym, on the rock wall, or in the pool. He never stopped moving, even to eat or sleep. He was a zombie on his feet, and continued to argue with their father about going on and trying to find Scott again. Sometimes going without permission.

Alan was a different type of zombie. He did as he was told, but nothing more. He was more often found asleep on the floor of his room—though the sleep was far from peaceful. They had to check on him often, for he tended to have nightmares that would wake him up in tears. 

And their father, well, he was a little of everything. He had put a lot of trust in his eldest in helping with the organization he wasn’t sure how he had done it just two years before. He kept himself busy, barely sleeping or eating. He used what ever time he had that wasn’t on work on making sure his remaining sons were eating and taking care of themselves—though even that was a struggle. His mother had even come to the island to help them.

But it was all still too similar to the past. To when they had lost their mother, and the love of his life. Another hole had formed in him, connecting to the first and making it bigger. It made it hard to breath, to think, to do anything. 

However they had to keep going. No matter how hard it was, they just had to keep pushing on. So a year later, Jeff announced that International Rescue would go back into operation again. He would be the pilot of Thunderbird 1, and Alan’s training would be doubled—he would eventually pilot Thunderbird 3 and in the future he’d be Jeff’s pick to replace him in Thunderbird 1, but everything else would remain the same. 

They weren’t ready—he knew they weren’t—they would always have that hole that could not be filled, but he also knew that they needed to. They needed to move on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They lost Scott, but not for good.

It was coming up to eight years since Jeff lost his eldest to that horrible accident. They had all moved on in a way, but never truly healed from the loss of Scott. 

When The Hood had showed up just three years prior it seemed that all their work was being demolished. They all started to think about the eldest and wonder what life would have been like with him still around. 

Still there was no changing the past and they continued to do the best they could even with The Hood and his henchmen causing trouble. However, at the early return of the Calypso new questions and uncertainties made their way into Jeff’s mind. 

"Mr. Tracy, I found s-something." There was no video to go with the voice, but it wasn’t needed for Jeff to know who it was. 

He cut the video that had been playing before him. Ever since they had heard the SOS call from Braman he had found it hard to deny the wish that maybe it had been something other than the Calypso that had needed help and had been watching the video from that fateful day more than just a few times. "Ah, Brains did you finally extract the data from Brahman so we could decode the research from the Calypso?" 

"I did and you h-have to hear this." 

Jeff frowned a little. He had been against Gordon going to get the robot and if he had been able to he would have stopped him. Now his second youngest was asleep on the couch before him his arm and leg in their cast and who knew what dreams making him fidget where he lay. 

"Hear? Weren’t you just extracting data?" 

"I w-was, but I found something e-else. The SOS we h-heard wasn’t the whole thing." 

Jeff sat up at that. The message they had intercepted a week ago had been strange not only that they were receiving the message but also the message itself; Emergency, Emergency, Situation Critical. That much was obvious, but there was another bit that confused everyone, even the astronauts onboard the Calypso; I have left for ever more, I am floating, the stars look different today.  
They were familiar words to Jeff, though he couldn’t quite place why. It had been bothering him, but Brains thought it was just an error in Braman’s programing—the same error that had caused the SOS in the first place. 

"Let me hear it." 

There was a bit of silence and then Braman’s voice echoed through the lounge, "This is Major Tom to ground control, I’ve left for ever more, And I'm floating in a most peculiar way, And the stars look very different today." 

The audio cut off and Brains voice was back. "I’ve also discovered something else. The SOS did not originate from B-Braman, but from someone else. I found these letters embedded in Braman’s d-data. F. A. B." 

Jeff was on his feet as everything suddenly clicked into place. "Scott." 

"Y-yes. I think he’s out there." 

Jeff jabbed his thumb onto the desk. "Everyone to the lounge now!" 

It didn’t take long to catch the rest of the family up on what had been found. And all of them were now getting their hope back that Scott was still alive somewhere. 

"I know that song!" Alan was on his feet bouncing from foot to foot. "Dad and Scott both sang it to me when I was little!" 

Jeff couldn’t help the small smile. "Yes, it was my favorite when I was young as well. This and the F.A.B. Brains found, there’s no doubt that it’s Scott." 

"But how? And where is he?" Virgil couldn’t take his eyes off of the message that was floating above the table. He had carried so much weight on his shoulders the past eight years. The responsibility of looking after his younger siblings and his father suddenly no longer something he shared but took on by himself. 

"W-we don’t know. There is nothing in the f-footage we have that helps with that." 

"So what’s the point of knowing he’s out there if we can’t find him?"

"It’s still something, Gordon. We have hope back at least." Grandma patted his legs that were draped over her lap. "There’s absolutely no other video available?" 

"I even asked Colonel Casey. She went back into the archives and couldn’t find anything else." John sighed as the video of the explosion played over and over in front of him. 

"What about that thing?" Alan was still standing, but pointing at the video of the explosion. 

"What thing?" Jeff stood from his desk and made his way down to where the others were sitting. 

"That—John back it up like two seconds—nope too far, one second?" Alan was squinting at the video. "There! Stop! That!" 

Everyone looked at the video and the small black dot that seemed to be flying away from the flames. 

"Isn’t that debris?" Grandma was adjusting her glasses hoping to see a little better. 

"That’s what we always thought, but if the ship had taken off and not exploded—" Virgil scooted forward in his seat. 

"The Hood. It’s his escape capsule. John, Brains, can you predict possible landing sites based off this video." 

"I’m already on it." John disappeared immediately quickly followed by Brains who was already talking to the astronaut on a private line. 

"Alright, there’s not much we can do until they figure out the next step." Jeff turned to look at his second youngest who had sighed as he said goodbye to his brothers who were off doing whatever while he was still stuck there. "Gordon. Thank you." 

This took Gordon a bit by surprise. "For what?" 

"Going after Braman of course. I—I was mad that you did. It was just a robot, but if you hadn’t—" Jeff waved his hand at everything they had just learned. "So, thank you." 

"Hey, gotta have someone to go against your orders sometimes. It’d be boring around here if I didn’t spice things up occasionally. Plus, I think one thing I learned with EOS being around—robots aren’t always just robots, ya know." 

"I do now." He leaned down and ruffled Gordon’s hair before kissing the top of his head. "Say, you want to go and relax on the pool deck? Can’t get in but at least you can get some sun." 

"Finally, I was waiting for someone to offer!" Gordon was already pushing himself up when his father lifted him into his arms.

"Just hope you don’t get stuck out there if we all have to go off on a mission." 

"I’d be one sunburnt fish if I do!" Gordon laughed as he father carried him down the stairs and into the sun that seemed a bit brighter than it had just days before. 

—

"Dad!" 

"I’ve got it." 

"That’s sea sludge, Dad. You’re not going to win. Let it go." 

"This could lead us to Scott." 

"This could kill you!" 

"I’m taking Two down." 

"Virgil are you crazy?" 

"She can do it." 

"Dad, just let go! It’s not worth it!" 

"Virgil, I’m getting reports of more leaks." 

"I’ve got it, just keep taking her down." 

"Isn’t anyone going to listen to me?" 

"I’m getting pulled down!" 

"We’re almost there!" 

"I see him, Virgil! He’s about to go under." 

"Adjust for water resistance and—I got him. Penelope release the balloons." 

"Done, they’re filling up properly but we’re not moving." 

"Come on—" 

"Virgil I’m getting more warning lights—"

"I’m not letting go." 

"The balloons are full and pulling us up." 

"The sludge is finally giving way, I see Four again—and he’s got the escape pod." 

"Thanks, Virgil, I was starting to think I’d made my own grave." 

"Not this time Dad." 

There was a lot of chatter as Penelope engaged the buoyancy balloons and two made its slow accent to the surface. Alan went out in One to help bring Two back to the island where the grueling task of drying out the behemoth could start. 

Alan and Virgil quickly shooed their father out of the hanger so they could get to work and Brains locked himself in one of his labs with the escape capsule. Jeff made his way back to the lounge and behind his desk. He tried to get some work done, but his fourth son still on the couch was keeping him from concentrating. 

"Gordon? Everything okay?" 

"I told you not to do it." 

Jeff let out a small chuckle. "I had to get that capsule." 

"You could have died!" Gordon pushed himself up a bit more and finally looked at his dad, his eyes red from crying. "Do you think Scott would have agreed with what you did?" 

What little humor Jeff had in him had disappeared. He took in a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Look, Gordon—" 

"I told you! You don’t mess with sea sludge. You made Virgil turn Two into a sub. If he hadn’t been able to pull you out we would have lost you and him and Pen as well! You know full well Scott would not have liked knowing that his return cost him three lives!" 

"And what about you? Look at what happened to you!" 

"Me? I ran, Dad! I ran as fast as I could, I just wasn’t fast enough. But you ran into danger instead of away from it. You’re always running into danger! And Scott was just like you. One day, you’re not coming home, just like him!" 

Jeff stood and made his way down to where his second youngest was. He lifted his legs and laid them across his lap. "Gordon." He sighed and found it hard to look his son in the eye. "I’m sorry I worried you. I didn’t mean to—" 

"I know you didn’t." Gordon wasn’t looking at his father either, his arm up over his eyes. 

Jeff rubbed his good leg a bit, not sure what to say to comfort his usually happy go lucky son. "I wish I could promise you that I’d try better but—" 

Gordon shook his head. "No, it would just be a lie." Gordon took in a deep breath. "I’m fine. I just—You just got to be more careful when you’re out of your element." 

"Agreed. I should have listened to you, you’re our ocean expert." Jeff leaned back a little. "I’m always telling you boys that if you don’t listen to each other there would be consequences. I don’t see why I should be exempt from that." 

"Dad?" 

"You are the expert and I failed to listen to you. What do you think my punishment should be?" 

Gordon blinked and stared at his dad for a moment before letting a smile spread across his face. "You serious? Okay okay! Let me think." 

"Oh boy, I hope I don’t regret this." Jeff chuckled. 

"You’re grounded." Gordon nodded, his decision made. 

"Now, Gordon, I’m not sure—"

"Hold on, I’m not done. You’re grounded after I’ve been returned to active duty. Obviously can’t do it now when we’re already short handed, but once I’m back it’ll be time for you to take some time off." 

Jeff smiled and nodded. "I think that’s a fitting punishment." 

"Mr. T-Tracy! You have to s-see this!" Brains ran into the room. 

Jeff stood and hit a button on the table. "Everyone to the lounge, we have the footage from the escape capsule." 

—

Virgil was just putting in a bit of shadow to mark his brother’s dimple on the painting he was working on. He hadn’t drawn or painted his brother in a long time—the hurt still just below the surface even all these years later. But now that they knew he was still alive and they had a plan to find him, he thought he’d give it a try. 

However his concentration was broken as the easel shook from the explosion that flashed to his left making him lift his arm to block the light from his eyes. 

The sound of the explosion was still echoing when Virgil heard his father curse below him and Brains stutter an apology. Virgil laid his pallet and brush down carefully before making his way down to the kitchen. 

"How long is it going to take, Brains? Scott is out there!" 

"I-I know, Mr. Tracy. B-but there are so many v-variables. The original drive was the result of y-years of research and development. None of which I-I have a-access to." 

"Dad, Brains is doing his best." Virgil reached out and laid a hand on his father’s shoulder. 

"I know." Jeff let his fist land hard on the table next to him. "It’s just the thought of Scott out there on his own." 

"Hey, he’s made it this far, have faith in him." 

"Why can’t you talk to the people who made the first drive?" Alan was sitting at the counter his computer in front of him. 

"Alan, homework." 

"How am I supposed to concentrate when there are explosions going off just outside?" 

"If you can’t do your homework then go and do maintenance on Three." 

"Oh, so now I’m no good for this conversation?" 

"Alan!" 

"Stop it!" Virgil positioned himself between his father and brother. "Dad you’re stressed out and taking it out on everyone else. Ease off." 

Jeff took in a deep breath and let it out. "I’m sorry, Alan." 

"I’m worried about him too, Dad." Alan turned to face Brains. "So, why can’t you just talk to the person who made the original drive?" 

Brains looked from Virgil to Jeff who nodded. "The creator of the first X-Drive is The Mechanic." 

"The Mechanic? You mean the guy that’s currently locked up in orbit?" Alan’s jaw was practically on the ground. 

"The o-one and the s-same." 

"Then why don’t we go ask him to help?" 

"That man is not stepping foot on this island." 

"Dad, Brains has been working day and night, non-stop. Not to mention I haven’t seen or heard John in the past couple of weeks. He’s put EOS in charge of incoming calls and spends all his time doing calculations." Virgil sighed a little and sat down at the table. "They have made astonishing progress, but we’ve already made Scott wait eight years. If we can get The Mechanic to help, why not?" 

"For one thing the second he steps foot on this island The Hood is going to know everything we’re doing. Not to mention we’d have to talk to the GDF to get permission." 

"I’m surprised we haven’t heard from Colonel Tracy. I’m sure they’ve noticed us experimenting with something out there." 

"Why is The Hood so interested in us anyways? What did we ever do to him?" Alan had turned around and was sitting in his chair backwards watching his father and brother. 

"We were business partners at the beginning of Tracy Industries and IR. However it quickly became clear that our objectives were very far apart. I cut my losses and split with him. Kayo and her father sided with me rather than with him—I’m sure you can imagine how much that alone angered him." 

"Okay, but why would he be after this engine? And why stop us from going to get Scott? It can’t just be cause he stopped him from getting the first engine." 

Jeff smiled at his youngest. He forgot sometimes that Alan had been too young to understand everything that had happened in the beginning of things. "Kayo and her father’s decision to stay—Scott and Virgil had a lot to do with that." 

"It was really more Scott than me. After Dad introduced us to Kayo we quickly became friends. Gordon too loved it when they came to visit. When we heard that Dad was cutting it off with her uncle we didn’t want to lose contact with her so Scott came up with a plan. Well, it wasn’t much of a plan rather than trying to convince Kyrano that he’d be better off staying with us than his brother. Luckily he was already thinking of a way to stay so not sure how much we really did." 

"More than you think." Everyone turned to find the elder Kyrano leaning against the wall. 

"Kyrano, we weren’t expecting you back for another week or two." Jeff walked over and pulled his old friend and bodyguard into a hug. 

"I have some news that I thought best to deliver to you in person rather than through John—if one can talk to him at all right now" 

"Don’t worry, I plan on going up tomorrow if I don’t hear from him before that." Virgil stood and accepted a hug from him as well. "What were you saying about us having more influence in your decision to stay?" 

"Well, I was of course thinking about Tanusha. She was always excited about coming to visit you boys and you treated her like she was family even back then. My brother, on the other hand, didn’t always see her worth and often saw her as a tag along that only got in the way." Kyrano sat down at the table and stared off at the ocean. "It wasn’t always that way though. He was a good person, got along well with myself and Tanusha. She loved hanging out with her uncle, but something in him changed and I don’t know why." 

"Was it after him and Dad partnered up? I can’t see Dad wanting to team up with someone like him in the first place." 

"It was." Jeff squeezed Kyrano’s shoulder—talking about his brother was always hard for the man. "Belah Gaat was a good man. Ambitious, cunning, but in a good way—"

"Wait, who?" Alan sat up and blinked at his father. 

"That’s the Hoods name. One he hasn’t used even for himself in many years." Kyrano laughed a little. "My brother was an excellent businessman, but I fear he had met someone that changed his life." 

"Do you know who?" Alan couldn’t help but get interested in the story. "Who does he work for?" 

Kyrano shrugged. "I don’t know. Even when he was trying to get me to go with him he wouldn’t say. But it was very clear Jeff had made an enemy of him and my decision to stay spread that hate to Scott and Virgil."  
"Man, that is crazy!" 

"That it is." 

"Kyrano, you said you had some news?" Jeff sat down across from his friend deciding that story time was over. 

"I do. Which is nothing. There is no sign of my brother or his Chaos Crew. I’ve even had Lady Penelope and Parker help, but nothing. It’s been too quiet. It make me think he already knows what you’re up to which is not good." 

"Dad, get the Mechanic." 

Kyrano lifted his eyebrows and looked around the room. "I feel like I’m missing something." 

"We want to bring The Mechanic down to help build the new drive. Dad is opposed." 

"Ah." Kyrano leaned back in the chair a little. "I think I’d have to side with your boys, Jeff. Bringing The Mechanic here might even force my brother to move." 

"That man has tried to hurt my family more than once!" 

"That man was under the control of The Hood. The Chaos Crew as far as we can tell aren’t and look what they did to Gordon. He is by far the lesser of the evils here and he could help us find Scott. I will make sure everyone on the island is safe." 

"How are you going to do that and search for your brother?" 

"Are you saying my daughter has not been up to your satisfaction?" 

"What? No, of course not." 

"She will be in charge of the island like always. I will talk with her before I leave at what she can do to make sure nothing happens." 

Everyone was looking at Jeff who had his lips pinched. He didn’t like it but he was running out of excuses. "Alright. I’ll leave it up to you. I’m still not happy about it though." 

"Dad, this is the the best way of finding Scott. We don’t know how long that SOS has been out there, we really can’t risk waiting for Brains to figure it out—though I’m sure he eventually would." 

"I-I appreciate the confidence in my abilities V-Virgil, but even with The Mechanic it’s going to take some t-time to get another working drive." 

"Alright, get going then and keep me in the loop, last thing we need are surprises." 

—

Having The Mechanic and their father on the same island was not an easy adjustment. Virgil walked in on them many times in the middle of an argument—Brains unfortunately stuck in the middle. Eventually he had to forbid his father from the lab while the two were working. Gordon even threatened to go ahead and enforce his punishment instead of waiting and got a hard enough glare from their father that it sent chills up his spine. 

It took Brains and The Mechanic a few months but were able to reproduce the faster than light engine. Once the engine was done, they put IR on full hiatus and started the work of combining the birds. All in all it took almost four months to get ready for their launch—an astonishing feat considering it had taken The Mechanic years to get the original engine in flight. 

They loaded into the ship, the empty seat in the middle reserved for the one they hoped to find. Alan was put in charge of piloting the ship while Jeff took the co-pilot seat and Gordon took charge of navigation. Brains and Virgil had screens of data, making sure the engine and the ship would stay together. Kayo would tag along to help and didn’t have much to do until they arrived in the Oort Cloud. 

Everything was good to go, the countdown started, and the Chaos Crew showed up. Kyrano was in his plane trying to divert their attention away from the ship, but even with Lady Penelope and Parker helping, the brother and sister duo were determined to bring the platform down so Kayo left, taking Shadow to help her father and friend. 

Then another error popped up making the family wonder if this was a doomed mission from the start, but Brains was able to fix it and the ship took to the sky. 

John and Five joined them in orbit and soon Alan pushed the lever that would take them to their brother. 

"Four is just too big. She can’t fit down there, but there is something there." Gordon grunted, frustrated that he couldn’t get his bird any closer. 

"Virgil, bring Four back up. I’ll grab a pack and head down there myself. John, take control of One." 

"I’m coming too! John, you got Three, right!" 

"FAB" 

"You didn’t have to come, Alan." 

"Yeah I did. We’re in space, that’s my realm" 

Jeff chuckled a little, but it faded as they reached what was clearly the wreck from the Zero-X. 

"He made an airlock. How did he do that?" Alan looked around as his father examined the door in front of them. 

"He repurposed it from another part of the ship. Quite ingenious." 

There was a hiss and Alan turned to see his father opening the door. He followed him inside and closed the door behind him. They had to wait for a minute before a light above the next door turned green and the next door was opened. 

"Scott!?" Alan rushed past his father to enter the living area. 

There was a small bed on one side, and a workbench on the other. In the back there was a large water reclaimer and the storage boxes for the dehydrated food that had been packed for the crew that was supposed to have taken the ship on its maiden voyage. 

"He’s not here." Alan frowned and turned to look at his Dad. "We’re not too late are we?" 

"Don’t give up yet, son." Jeff made his way to the bed and the etching on the wall. Scott wasn’t much of an artist—unlike Virgil—but when it came to mechanical design he could draw well enough and the pictures of all the birds surrounding what looked like their island was enough to make his eyes water. "Come on, let’s look outside some more. We may have just missed him." 

The two left the small shelter and started looking around the piece of rock, but weren’t finding much. 

"Dad, Alan, you need to come back. There’s some movement out here heading your way and that rock won’t take much before there’s nothing left." Virgil’s voice was calm but clearly things were not looking good. 

"Go on up, Alan. I’m just going to take one more look." 

There was a glare on Alan’s helmet so his father couldn’t see his face, but his voice cracked when he nodded. "FAB." 

Jeff watched his son take off for a moment before turning to the shelter behind him. The rocks around him were starting to move and he wouldn’t have much time to get out of there, but he had to have one last look. With a sigh he turned to take off after Alan, only the rock below him disappeared and he went down instead of up. 

He had barely had time to react when he felt someone grab his hand. He looked up expecting Alan to have come back, but there wasn’t red on the glove that held his. He looked up and his grey eyes met sky blue. 

Suddenly he had memories of bright blue skies with a young brown headed son in his arms flying around the yard, his first time in a plane, and just the freedom of the skies. 

"Scott." His voice cracked as he was pulled up to a steadier position. 

"Hey, Dad. Thanks for coming to pick me up." 

Jeff nodded and took his son around the waist. "Let’s get you out of here." 

—

Alan was floating near Two waiting for their dad to join them. "Virgil, where is he?" 

"I don’t know, we can’t penetrate that far down, you know." It was Gordon that answered. "John is trying to contact him as well, but it’s all static—wait—I’m getting something." 

"Alan get inside Two now. We don’t need you out there with those rocks flying around." 

Alan hesitated but obeyed his brother. "Is that Dad, Gordon?" 

"It’s definitely dad, and someone else." 

"Someone else?" Alan had just gotten into the airlock and tried to look out as the doors closed. 

He was in the cockpit with his family hanging on Gordon’s shoulder watching the scans as the dots got closer. 

"Virgil, I need clearance in the air lock. I’ve got him." 

"Clearance is yours, Dad. We’ll meet you in the module." 

The four brothers made their way down to the module. Gordon had to hold back Alan until they were sure it was okay to proceed. 

Their father was floating next to Four watching the other figure as he took off his helmet. He turned and Alan was gone. He pushed himself across the module and tackled Scott in the mid section burying his face in his eldest brother’s stomach. Gordon was next, claiming Scott’s chest. Virgil and John followed taking either side and then their father pulled them all to him, his family whole once more. 

After a moment they reluctantly pulled back and looked up at their brother. He had aged—more than just the eight years he was gone. He had small wrinkles around his eyes and between his brows where they could all imagine him frowning at whatever task he had set himself to. His hair had streaks of gray as well showing the stress he had to have been under. 

"Alright." Virgil cleared his throat as he gently elbowed his way past Alan and pulled out a scanner, placing it on Scott’s chest. "We need to get you settled up in the cockpit. Alan, Dad, you should get back to your Birds." 

The group split and went back to their birds to make their way back to the Zero-XL were they would be a bit safer. 

"Dad’s really upped his flight game hasn’t he?" Scott was on the med bed in the cockpit, leaning up on his elbow. 

"That’s Alan." John smiled as they watched the red rocket in front of them dive and spin around the asteroids. 

"Alan? Man, Dad never showed me those moves." Scott laughed a little. 

"Nah, those are all his moves. He outdid Dad after a couple of years flying." Gordon laughed, but couldn’t have been more proud of his little brother. He only wished Alan could hear what their brother was saying. 

"Lay down Scott. Let the med scan do its job." 

"Jeez, Virg, you sound like Grandma." 

"Good. Now lay down." 

Scott laughed as he followed instructions. The cockpit grew quiet as they made their way back to the main ship.

However things weren’t over yet. They couldn’t get in contact with Brains and almost couldn’t re-dock with the ship. 

"Brains?" Gordon was first through the doors, Virgil in the rear helping Scott through the halls. 

"Brains?" Alan echoed his brother turning around in the small space. 

The engineer popped up from under one of the control panels and straightened his glasses. "S-sorry about that. H-had some issues p-pop up, Jeff. Should be g-good now." 

There was a pause where time seemed to have stopped and then both Alan and Gordon were on top of Brains restraining the timid man. 

"What are you doing?" Scott pushed Virgil away to confront his two youngest brothers. However his father stopped him. 

"It’s alright Scott. Even after all these years Brains still doesn’t call me by my first name." 

"Then, who?" 

The Brains between his youngest brothers started to laugh in a way that was very unlike anything any of them had ever heard from the engineer, then a second later the hologram dropped and The Hood stood there. 

"There’s no closet that can hold me!" Brains—the real one— appeared behind everyone with a mop in hand and MAX beeping angrily behind him. He stopped short when he saw the group in the cockpit and straightened up. "Oh, Mr. Tracy, You’re back." 

"Back and with Scott." Jeff beamed at the engineer. 

"S-scott! It’s w-wonderful to see you!" 

"You too, Brains." Scott smiled and nodded back at him before turning to The Hood. "Why are you even here? Surely not to sabotage the ship, you’d be stranded out here too." 

"No, I wanted to steal the ship. You do realize how much I could get for the engine alone, let alone the rest of the technology here." 

"And payback for convincing your brother to stay with me instead of following you is a plus I’m sure." 

"That man is no brother of mine." The Hood frowned, his anger showing. 

"Boys lock him up till we can get back home." 

"FAB." Gordon and Alan took him away locking him a very similar closet that he had previous locked Brains in. 

Virgil guided Scott over to the empty seat in the cockpit and carefully strapped him in. "I’m going to be alright Virgil." 

"I know." Virgil didn’t look at him, but buckled his belt and went back to his seat. 

"We lost you eight years ago Scott, but you were never forgotten. Now we can go home and be whole once again." Jeff smiled at his son as he settled into his own chair.

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Scott smiled as he looked around at his family. 

"How about you take us out then?"

"Alright, on five." Scott settled himself a bit and looked forward watching his father and two brothers at the helm. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One." 

"Thunderbirds Are Go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't intended to write more to this, but had a couple of scenes in my head I wanted to get out so here you go.


End file.
